Hold on seafood lovers. This Warm Seafood Salad is sure to be delicious during this time of the year. Chef Pellegrino cooks all the shellfish in a tasty court bouillon to give it a great extra depth of flavor.

A court bouillon is a simple flavored liquid that is traditionally used for poaching fish or seafood. It consists of herbs and aromatic vegetables briefly simmered in wine, water and citrus.

Enjoy this Warm Seafood Salad with a nice bottle of wine and a crusty loaf of Italian bread.

Take out the roots and peel the carrots, cut off the dirty part of roots of leeks and make 2 incisions one inch from root down the leeks, cross like; wash the leeks under running cold water then soak it in clear water for about 15 minutes.
Peel the onion.

Cut all the vegetable roughly, about 2 inches squares. Heat a small stock pot (8 qt. Capacity), over a medium-hi flame, add the corn oil and let it heat until becomes liquid, before smoke point.

Sauté the vegetables until it becomes gold color, add the bouquet garni and sauté for a minute, then add the acids (wine and lemon juice, the acids need to add 10% of water in the stock), sauté another 2 minutes.

Add the cold water and bring it to a boil, turn down the flame and let it simmer for 35 to 40 minutes; strain the Buillon into a stock pot and use it to cook shellfish.

SEAFOOD COOKING TIME:

CALAMARI -- boil for 3 minutes

SHRIMPS -- boil for 5/6 minutes

LOBSTER – boil for 8 minutes

LOBSTER BODIES – (6-1/2 minutes)

MUSSELS – boil for 3 minutes (or until it opens up)

CALAMARI TENTACLES – 3 to 4 minutes

Warm Seafood Salad

INGREDIENTS

U-15 shrimp tiger 9

Lobster clogs 6

Mediterranean Mussels 12

Fresh jumbo lump crab meat 1/2 lb

Fresh squid tubes and tentacles 1lb

Celery 1 stalk

Red bell peppers 1/2

Gaeta olives (chopped – optional) 5

Italian parsley (chopped) 1 tbs

Extra Virgin olive oil 1/2 cup

White dry wine 1/2 cup

Fresh lemon juice 2 lemons

Salt – to taste

Freshly ground white pepper to taste

Prepping the salad:

Brunoise (finely dice) the celery, red bell, Gaeta olives (optional)

Chop some Italian parsley (about 2 springs)

Peel and vein the shrimps, clean and peel the squids, cut the squid tubes (white part) in 1/2 inch wide rings, set apart the tentacles.

Cook all the shellfish (as explained above)

Cut the shrimps in three pieces each (about 1 inch size)

Set it aside mixed with the calamari rings

Take off the shell from lobster clogs, discard the bodies and set it aside

Take off and discard the mussels shell, set the mussels aside

Set aside some chunks of fresh jumbo lump crab meat.

PREPARATION

Place a large sauté pan in a hi-medium flame, let it get hot for about 3 minutes, add extra virgin olive oil and sliced garlic, let heat up for another 2 minutes. Pour in 2 tbs. of shrimp and calamari ring mixture, 4 mussels, 2 curly calamari tentacles, and ½ tsp of celery, 1/3 tsp of red bell peppers and 1/2 tsp. of chopped parsley

Add cup of white dry white wine, let it evaporate for about 2 minutes then plate it

Lay half of salad on the plate, lay 1 tbs. Of fresh jumbo lump crab meat over the salad, add the other half salad on top, and garnish it with a lobster clog, drop a string of extra olive oil over it and sprinkle with chopped parsley; garnish it with a Parsley spring and a lemon wedge.